Jeanie Sandoval of Santa Barbara, 1921-2017

Jeanie Sandoval was born on May 8, 1921, in Santa Barbara, Calif. She passed on Sept. 18, 2017, at Heritage House in Santa Barbara.

Her parents were Lucia and Arnulfo Lopez. She was the second to the eldest of 11 siblings. Of the 11, four have passed away— Angelo who was only 5 years old, (he was the first Angelo), Stanley Lopez, Annie Ambriz and Connie Padilla; and six are surviving.

They all grew up in Santa Barbara, going to the local schools and graduating from Santa Barbara High School.

While attending Santa Barbara Junior High School, Jeanie had won a singing competition, from then on her singing career was made known. She would mostly sing for family and friends and during the Fiestas and at her local church that she attended.

She enjoyed music and would always sing when she was happy and when she wanted to give thanks to the Lord. At 96 with dementia, she still sang to all those who would visit her at Heritage House and will greatly be missed with her smile and music.

She met and married at 19 years old to her late husband Joe Sandoval; they were married for 51 years. They had one son Francisco Sandoval who passed away in 1989 due to a heart problem.

Jeanie has two grandchildren five great-grandchildren and seven great, great-grandchildren. They all live in Long Beach, Calif.

Jeanie was a hairdresser for 50 years, her pink beauty shop was on Milpas Street, it was not only her business but also her home for a number of years until her family moved. She enjoyed her shop and the socializing with her customers each day. Her joy was her work and being creative.

Jeanie’s Beauty Shop was the only shop at the time on Milpas Street, until she retired. She was quite an entrepreneur; she began working as a cook in her younger years and this led to her enjoyment of cake baking and cooking as a hobby.

For many special family occasions she always made a homemade cake for weddings, baby showers, birthdays and graduations. Her small kitchen and oven would make at least a four-tier cake.

For Christmas, she would make persimmon cookies, chocolate chip cookies and snicker doodles, as well as luscious fruit cakes as gifts.

All the cousins well remember those crispy new dollar bills to the children in a red envelope. And Uncle Manuel dressed up as Santa Claus; Christmas was a fun, happy time we will never forget.

Jeanie had many special interests and hobbies that she devoted time to. She found great pleasure in making exquisite flower arrangements for weddings.

She enjoyed her home and especially enjoyed working in her garden; sometimes even forgetting to eat she would get so involved outside.

The Lord blessed Jeanie with many talents that gave pleasure to our families, friends and community. She is quite a lady and has a deep love for the Lord and an understanding of the path we all must go through in life.

She especially loved family gatherings and all the little ones she took an interest in, she loved children and small animals. She always had either a dog or a cat that was a part of her family.

I think all of us will always remember she loved the color pink, it was rare that she wore any other color it had to be pink at Heritage House they called her the Pink Angel.

A Celebration of Life will be held 1-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the reception hall at Santa Barbara Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 425 Arroyo Road off Auhay Drive.

Arrangements entrusted to Pueblo del Rey Funeral Services.

— Jeanette Padilla

Reader Comments

Noozhawk is no longer accepting reader comments on our articles. Click here for the announcement. Readers are instead invited to submit letters to the editor by emailing them to [email protected]. Please provide your full name and community, as well as contact information for verification purposes only.